TRAFFIC JAM IN TAKORADI WORSENS (PAGE 29)

traffic jam had, in the past, been associated with big cities such as Accra and Kumasi, but Takoradi is gradually joining the bandwagon.
Even though Takoradi is a co-city with Sekondi, the former did not experience traffic jam over the years until recently and it keeps on growing year after a year.
For the past one or two years, Takoradi has been experiencing this problem at some popular road intersections, particularly where traffic lights are not functioning and at some of the roundabouts.
One should not forget that most of the traffic lights in Takoradi have ceased functioning for over two years now.
Also, the construction of roundabouts and the provision of traffic lights cannot be said to be a more effective way of controlling traffic flow in the cities with heavy vehicular movement.
It is for this reason that modern road interchange and flyovers have been constructed or are being constructed in Accra and Kumasi to ease traffic jams in these cities.
Takoradi should be considered in the construction of these interchange and flyovers to contain the constant increase in vehicular traffic.
The most affected areas are the road from the Kwame Nkrumah Roundabout to the traffic lights at Tanokrom, which is popularly called Pipe Ano, and beyond to Effia Kuma on the main Takoradi-Cape Coast–Accra highway.
Others are the road from the Paa Grant Circle to the Takoradi Polytechnic traffic lights on the Takoradi-Sekondi road.
Most often, the congestion occurs during the rush hours of the mornings and evenings.
A serious traffic jam should be expected in Takoradi in the foreseeable future, as a result of the oil find in the Western Region, which is said to be in commercial quantities, if nothing is done immediately to avert this problem.
With the oil find and the expectant establishment of oil refineries, as well as the opening of other oil-related businesses, in the Western Region and Takoradi in particular, the volume of traffic is expected to increase tremendously, as more vehicles will be using the roads in Takoradi, even if Takoradi is not the final destination but a transit point.
Also, the Takoradi Port, which is being expanded, will handle most of the equipment and vehicles, as well as other logistics, meant for the oil industry in the Western Region, which is expected to be pumping crude oil in the year 2010.
What one is trying to predict is that Takoradi is growing at a fast pace and that some of the characteristics associated with the big cities, particularly traffic jams, have started rearing their ugly heads. Consequently, Takoradi may need interchanges or flyovers to contain the situation.
The Urban Roads Engineer of the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly, Mr John Ofori Ankomah, told the Daily Graphic that it was true that Takoradi might need an interchange or flyovers to help reduce the emerging heavy traffic jam in the city.
He said the Department of Urban Roads of the assembly had considered that option and it had already started improving some of the road intersections in the city, including those at the Paa Grant Roundabout and Tanokrom, to help reduce congestion in those areas.
Mr Ankomah noted that apart from the increasing volume of vehicles in Takoradi, there would also be long vehicles which would be conveying heavy equipment to the oil refineries which were expected to be constructed in the region.
The Chief Executive Officer of Numat Pharmacy Limited, Mr Kwesi Nunoo, did not mince words when his opinion was sought on this issue.
“It is not that traffic jam is coming; it has come to Takoradi,” he said.
He corroborated the suggestion for the construction of an interchange or flyovers at some of the intersections in Takoradi to help ease traffic jams in the city.
Mr Nunoo said for now faulty traffic lights needed to be repaired, as they caused more accidents at the intersections.
“The construction of an interchange or flyovers will go a long way to reduce traffic jams in Takoradi,” he said.
According to him, with the oil find in the Western Region, there would be an influx of all sorts of vehicles to the region, particularly to Sekondi/Takoradi.